The U.S. Department of Transportation IntelliDrive initiative seeks to improve transportation safety and mobility while reducing the environmental impact of surface transportation through the use of networked wireless communication among vehicles, roadway infrastructure, and travelers’ personal communication devices. This report summarizes the findings of an investigation of existing and emerging sources of roadway geometry and inventory data (including public and commercial databases) as well as technologies and methods for collecting, maintaining, and updating roadway attribute information. These data sources are compared along several technical dimensions including geographic coverage, network connectivity, feature resolution, positional accuracy, included attributes, data format and size, and methods and frequency of updates and are evaluated relative to potential near-term IntelliDrive application data needs as indicated by prior research and discussions with IntelliDrive stakeholder groups. The study also examines the workflow practices and business models of current data providers and their capacity for delivering the roadway data needed for future IntelliDrive applications. Based on the findings from the trade study, current roadway geometry and inventory data gaps are identified. Recommendations are proposed for specific research activities and institutional and regulatory options to address data gaps. (Author/publisher)
Abstract